Hermione ran back into her parents' house and closed the door behind her, pressing her back against it. She was glad she had taken a hangover potion from Harry's before she left the apartment.
'What did we do?'
She had slept with Harry. Her best friend Harry.
And she enjoyed it.
The entire night was slowly coming back to her. She remembered going to Harry's house and talking to him about her breakup with Ron. She then remembered the drinks. And then she remembered what happened next.
'Oh, Harry!'
"Stop it!" she told herself, as the entire night played in her mind.
'You're huge!' she had giggled.
'The best I ever had.'
'Did I really tell him that?' she thought, pressing her hand against her head. 'It was the best I ever had, though. I can't argue with that.'
And no matter how much she tried to deny it, she wanted more.
Then, just a little bit ago, he had kissed her. He was sober, and he kissed her. The look in his eyes when she pulled away-she shivered. There was something there.
And she ran away, like a coward.
She walked into the living room, and stopped dead in her tracks.
"Ron?"
"Hi, Hermione."
"What are you doing here?"
"I came here to see you. I figured this is where you were at."
"How long have you been here?"
"Not long."
"Would you like anything to drink?"
"No. Hermione, I'm sorry. Please, come home."
"I can't," she said quietly.
"Why?"
She didn't say anything. He stood up and pressed his hands against her shoulders, looking straight at her as he did so.
"Please, I'm sorry. I treated you badly, I know that now. I just want you to come home."
She shook her head, tears forming in her eyes. Before she could say another word, however, he lightly pressed his lips against hers.
And it felt off, somehow.
It didn't feel like it used to. It just felt wrong now, as though they were discovering that they weren't meant to be together. She broke away, shaking her head at herself as she did so.
"I can't get back together with you. I'm sorry, Ron."
She turned and looked away at the look of pain on his face. He stood up, running his hands through his hair as he did so.
"I still love you."
"I love you, too."
"Then why?"
"I need to sort some things out."
He nodded, biting his cheek as he did so. He walked over to the door and put his hand on the doorknob, turning his head back towards her as he did so.
"I'm sorry for everything I did. I wish I could take it all back, so I could be with you again."
She felt tears well up in her eyes as the door shut, leaving her alone to her thoughts.
Harry stepped out of the shower-a very cold shower-and wrapped the towel around his waist, struggling to keep his thoughts in check. He ran his hand over his head and gently rubbed it, still angry with himself that he allowed himself to go that far with Hermione.
He walked back into his bedroom and looked at his bed, and suddenly the entire night came rushing back to him.
The way she clutched at his back, her cries of 'Oh, Harry!', the look of lust her in eyes. He closed his eyes, and he could almost picture it.
'She seemed so mad this morning,' he thought, closing his eyes, 'and I made the stupid move of snogging her again.'
He still couldn't figure out what caused him to do that. He was simply going to ask her to stay so they could talk about what happened, then he looked into her eyes.
And he had kissed her.
'Idiot,' he thought, smacking his hand against his head. 'Why did I let this happen?'
'Because you love her.'
'She seemed so mad this morning. Is she mad at me?'
His thoughts moved through his head, never ending as he got dressed. He then went downstairs and saw his shirt, the two glasses and the bottle of firewhiskey sitting on his table. He grabbed the glasses and put them into his sink before grabbing the bottle of firewhiskey.
That's when he noticed it was empty.
'How much did we have?' he thought again. He shook his head and walked into the kitchen to throw it away.
"Harry?" a voice called through the hall.
Ron's voice.
"In here," he called, swallowing. Ron appeared in the kitchen. "This is way early for you. What's the matter?"
"Hermione broke up with me."
"Why?" he asked, his hand clutching the counter.
"I don't know," he said, pulling a chair out. "She broke up with me a few days ago. I went over there this morning and tried to get back together with her and she said no. She said that she had things to work through."
Harry dropped his head, feeling guilty for what happened between them. "I'm so sorry, mate."
"It's all my fault. I yelled at her. I was stressed from the mission, and I took it out on her. I know I screwed up. I just wish she would forgive me."
Harry didn't know what to say. Guilt ran through his body, and he fought back the urge to tell him.
'He deserves to know.'
"Look, uh, I have to get to work. I can't believe I let her go."
He stood up and pushed the chair back in. Harry pressed his hand against his mouth, closing his eyes as he did so. He heard the door open and close, and let out a sigh.
'What have we done?'
The next few weeks rolled by and she hadn't heard from Ron or Harry. She knew that Ron wouldn't want to talk to her, and she had steered clear of Harry. She had no idea how she would even begin to talk to him, or what to say.
In the meantime, Ginny had helped her find an apartment quickly, and was glad to know that the breakup with Ron didn't affect her relationship with the Weasley family. She was able to get more work done and that allowed her to get more rest on her days off.
And she needed it, because she had become tired all the time lately.
She found herself dozing off at work, or around her apartment. She had also become very scatterbrained, often leaving things at home or work that she needed.
'What is going on with me lately?' she asked herself, as she found her wand in her bathroom drawer.
"I'm pretty sure that doesn't go there," Ginny said, raising an eyebrow at her. Hermione shook her head.
"I have no idea what's going on with me lately."
"They do say lack of sex causes that."
Hermione glared at her, and she pressed her lips together. "I'm just kidding."
"Not everyone can be like you and Dean," Hermione replied, walking out of the bathroom and into the kitchen.
"What can I say? He's irresistible."
"You must be really happy."
"I am. He makes me-Hermione!"
Hermione looked down and noticed that she was about to put one of her favorite books into the refrigerator. Ginny grabbed it from her.
"Maybe the breakup and the move is messing with you. Try taking some time off work."
"I am not taking any time off work. I just have some things that I need to work through, that's all. Enough about me. Keep telling me about Dean."
"It's going a lot better than it did before. I don't know what's different."
"I'm glad to hear that. I know the breakup with Harry tore you apart."
"Not as much as I thought it would. We just weren't meant to be together. That entire relationship wasn't like it was before."
Hermione pressed her lips together, debating if she should ask Ginny this or not. "Did you and Harry ever, you know."
"No," Ginny replied, shaking her head. Hermione dropped the glass she was holding in shock. "We only dated for a short time, and most of that time was him and I going back and forth to Hogwarts to repair it, or he getting enrolled into the Auror's program. We barely saw each other, and that's one of the reasons why we ended it."
Hermione didn't say anything more, but turned and continued to put the glasses back into her cabinet. Ginny looked at her in worry.
"Is something wrong?"
"No, nothing's wrong. Why do you ask?"
"You just look like you're fighting with yourself on something."
"You said the breakup with Harry didn't affect you as much as you thought it would."
"Yeah, so?"
"That's how I feel about the breakup with Ron."
"Maybe you didn't love Ron as much as you thought you did."
"Maybe," she replied quietly.
"Or, you fell in love with someone else."
She closed her eyes. Ginny let out a gasp.
"You do love someone else!"
"Ginny-"
"-Who is it?" she asked, her eyes wide. "Come on, tell me!"
"That's just it," she said. "I don't know if I'm in love with him."
"Spill! Spill!" she cried.
"It's Harry."
"Hi, Andromeda," Harry said, as the elderly woman opened the door. She smiled at him.
"Why hello there. He's very excited to see you."
"Is he, now?" he smiled. Andromeda allowed him to walk inside and he saw his one-and-a-half year old godson on the floor playing with his toys.
"Hare!" the boy cried, clapping his hands. Harry laughed.
"Miss me?" he asked, picking Teddy up.
"Here is his diaper bag and it should have everything you need in it."
"Thanks for letting me have him for the night."
"Of course. You can have him whenever you want, you know that."
"What do you say, huh? Should I see you more often?"
Teddy snuggled his head into Harry's shoulder and played with the collar of his shirt. Andromeda kissed his head.
"I'll see you tomorrow. Be good."
"I'll bring him back around eight tomorrow morning. I have to be at work at nine."
"No problem, I'll be awake."
"Thanks again," Harry said, slinging the diaper bag onto his shoulder. He turned and walked out the door before he apparated back to his apartment and put Teddy onto the floor.
"Just you and me, kid," he said, pulling out a few of Teddy's toys. He put the bag onto his table and plopped onto the couch, letting out a sigh.
"Can I tell you something?" he asked Teddy, knowing that his godson wouldn't talk back. "I may have made the biggest mistake of my life. You see, I'm in love with Hermione, and we-er-did a bad thing. I may have lost her forever because of it. I don't know what to do, Teddy. I don't want to lose her, but, I also don't want things to go back to the way they were. I don't think I could handle it."
He put his hand over his mouth. "I could also lose Ron for what happened. I feel like I should tell him, but, at the same time, I don't. He and Hermione weren't together when it happened, but, it shouldn't have happened."
Teddy smashed his toys together and grinned up at Harry. Harry smiled back down at him, ruffling his orange hair as he did so.
"I'll always have you," he said softly. He joined Teddy on the floor and played with him, trying to keep his mind off of Hermione.
"What?" Ginny asked in shock. Hermione bit her lip.
"I think I'm falling in love with Harry."
She expected a blowout; Ginny always had quite the temper. There was none. Ginny was just staring at her, a slightly amused expression on her face.
"Really?"
"You're not mad?"
"Why would I be mad? I told you, Harry and I ended on good terms. I don't feel anything for him anymore. Now, I believe I asked you a question."
"I'm feeling things I didn't feel with Ron. I don't know what to do."
"I feel like there's way more to this story than what you're letting on. Did something happen, perhaps?"
"No," she lied, turning away. Ginny looked at her.
"Whatever happened," she started, putting her hand on Hermione's shoulder, "just know that I'm here for you. If you're really feeling this way, you should try talking to Harry."
"I can't," she said. "What if he doesn't feel the same way?"
Ginny bit her lip, trying so hard not to tell her. "You never know what he could be feeling. Go talk to him!"
She was holding something back, Hermione could tell. She didn't get another chance to think about it when she closed her eyes and clutched her stomach, feeling nausea rise up in it. She put her hand over her mouth and ran to her bathroom, clutching the toilet as she heaved into it. Ginny held her hair and rubbed her back.
"You really need to take time off work," she said, handing Hermione a piece of toilet paper. She wiped her mouth off.
"I told you, I'm not."
"At least let me take you to St. Mungo's."
"No," she said, pressing her wand to her mouth. "I'll be fine."
"I'm worried about you."
"Don't be."
"Here's the file you asked for," Kayla said, entering Hermione's office.
"Thank you," she said, taking it from her.
"There's also a man who wishes to see you."
"Who?"
"Harry Potter," she said with a smile. Hermione sucked in a breath.
"Thank you, Kayla," she said, nodding to her. She walked over to the door and opened it before walking out. A minute later Harry knocked on the office door, and she looked up.
"Hello, Harry."
"Can we talk?" he asked, closing the door behind him. She nodded.
"Yeah, I think we need to."
He sat down in the chair across from her desk. They were both silent for a few minutes before he began to talk.
"I'm sorry about what happened. You were vulnerable, and I took advantage of you."
"Actually, you didn't," she said, closing the book she was looking from. "Both times we had sex, I instigated it."
He looked up at her, suddenly remembering.
"Remember now?"
"I still should have stopped it. I was as much a part of that as you were."
"What's done is done," she said. "Still friends, right?"
"Always," he replied, smiling.
'I love you.'
"I'm sorry about how I reacted that morning. I was very scared and confused and hungover and I overreacted."
"I was scared, too. I don't want to lose you, Hermione."
'I love you.'
She stood up to put a book back in her bookshelf, and he remained in the chair, determined to tell her. She let out a sigh as she turned back to him.
"I haven't told Ron."
"Neither have I," he replied quietly.
"How's he doing?"
"He's doing a lot better than he was. He misses you."
"I miss him, too, but I can't get back together with him. It's too complicated."
"I'm sorry. I feel like I ruined your relationship."
"You didn't do anything."
He raised his eyebrow at her, and she shook her head, laughing slightly.
"You know what I mean. Ron and I had been on the fritz before that. I thought maybe with him being away for a little while things would get better. They never did."
"I'm sorry, Hermione."
"Me, too. I've moved on, though. I have a new apartment, my job is great, and I'm hoping I can talk to my best friend again."
"You can always talk to me. You know that."
"I know," she replied quietly, not making eye contact with him.
"I should be going," he replied, standing up. She nodded.
"Yeah, I need to get back to work."
He nodded, gave her one final look, and turned and walked out of her office. She closed her eyes and dropped her head.
Hermione sighed as she entered her apartment. She closed the door behind her and pressed her head against the wall, her earlier conversation with Harry flowing through her head. She then put her bag onto the couch and clutched her hand to her stomach, hoping that she would not get sick.
She ran to the bathroom and fell in front of the toilet just in time. She held her hair back with one of her hands as the other clutched the rim of the bowl.
She stood back up and cleaned her mouth with her wand before she went to lay on her bed. When the nausea finally passed she stood back up and returned to the living room.
'I must be coming down with something,' she thought, as she walked over to her desk. She looked at her calendar and made sure that everything that needed to be done for the week was done until she noticed the date.
"That can't be right!" she said, her mind going into overdrive. She looked at the date again, making sure what she read had been right. Then she looked at it again.
October 20th
"I'm a week late," she said, pressing her hand against her mouth. She felt tears welling up in her eyes. "This can't be right!"
She quickly ran over to her bookshelf and pulled one of her books out. She opened it to the contents before turning to the page, her breath coming in shorter and shorter gasps. When she found the page she wanted, she looked through all the signs of pregnancy, and the spell to determine if she was or not.
She realized that she had all of the signs.
She fell to the ground, tears pouring out of her eyes. She quickly grabbed for her wand, lifted her shirt up, and pressed the wand to her stomach, her hand trembling so badly that she couldn't focus. She quickly said the spell and waited for the result, her heart pounding in her chest.
Then, the green smoke arose from the tip of her wand.
She was pregnant.
Pregnant with Harry Potter's child.